Owning your own home

Would it be legally stupid to contact the seller's solicitor directly?

I don't think so no. But maybe start with putting pressure on both agents? They are generally well versed in being a pain in the arse.

I think I’d like to get an extension onto my house (instead of moving). Is remortgaging to do so a difficult process? Does anyone have experience of it?

I've done this and it was really straight forward, assuming no difficulties with employment etc.

Snap. Lolz.

By about 50%.

FFS.

Side return costs about £45k doesn't it?

According to all those online calculators, yes, that'll do you, and another 45 for a loft, bobs ya uncle.

yup, think of a figure. times that by 1.5 then slap another 10% on top for contingencies. and, oh yeah, you’ve got fees to pay

the important thing is not to blow through the ceiling price for values on your street.

Dont forget VAT, because as a business I just write it off at the end so don't include that 20% of fees at any point.

Oh, oh hold on, no I'm fucking not.

Side return costs about £45k doesn't it?

Shit.

Luckily the ceiling for our road has just gone through the roof, otherwise this was a major concern.

We thankfully raised the ceiling on ours but the economics of any further work, i.e. doing a loft/extension properly vs moving don't add up here. Not with my taste, anyway, and just doing it for it to be done would pain me. Reckon I'm about 5k down on the bathroom vs leaving it as the mouldy shit pit it was before too.

We had that situation in our flat on Camberwell - we got the freehold and permissions to do a loft conversion but sold it at £550k (in 2018) without doing the work because who spends £650k on a three bed split level maisonette without any outdoor space?
Our flat is still the highest price sold on that road (by a fair way).

Also your amazing bathroom may well have secured you the great price so probably not £5k down the drain

Yeah but shit houses have gone for £house(-bathroom+x) before you even count the fancy downstairs. We got a few years enjoyment out of that so I'm not so fussed but the two-bed ceiling is annoying. I had such plans! But no point burning the cash to make them reality.

Are all Roofing Contractors pretty much one-man bands or are there any larger established companies I should hit up for roof renewal of an extended 2 up 2 down?

Does mold resistant paint work?

Our cold corner of the bathroom winter mold is back again and I'm wondering if a special paint will be a long term fix over cleaning with bleach periodically.

Earlsfield?

Congratulations you crazy man!

What're your humidity levels? Extraction beats paint imo.

Longshot.
If you have any any Makita LXT tools, the handheld vac is good for picking up crap that you wouldn't want to do with a more expensive one

You found somewhere?
From my experience so far- the former.

Yeah plan B, trouble is, is dying for a new roof.

West or East?
Can continue off forum.

Extraction beats mould resistant paint in my experience. We added both in our bathroom and it improved the situation re.: Mould, but didn't solve it. I think the missing link for us was the mould forming on cold surfaces. You could try heating cold spots if possible (new radiator at low level was something I considered) and that has the benefit of heating the air generally so it holds more moisture so the extraction is more effective.

In reality the most effective technique for us has been leaving the bathroom door ajar. Works fine in a 1 bed flat but YMMV of course.

Next plan for us will be hopefully adding some low level rads but also raising the ceiling (removing redundant dropped ceiling) and adding a louvre above the door. Hopefully this will increase the air volume in the room and reduce the pressure that the fan has to generate. If there's any magic insulating paint or tile products I might try them on the cold walls too.

Cheers.

Other than paint there is no viable way to resolve this that I can see. The extractor is above the shower in the 2nd warmest corner. We open the window when showering, leave the fan on for a good period after and keep the door open. The bath is in the cold corner so putting a heater in the cold corner would either require electrics or a bathroom refit. (Can you even put an electric heater above bath taps?!). Wall should have cavity wall insulation.

The only other thing I can think of is trying to add some more/better insulation in the joists above in the roof. But I'm skeptical that would make enough of an improvement in thermal efficiency.

I guess another extractor could be added in the cold corner. Or some kind of super extractor (but the current one is an inline jobbie not a little fan in the window).

(cold corner = 2 external walls North and West)

Insulated wall lining is my final idea :)

You can get additives that you add to paint, rather than buying a specific mould resistant paint off the shelf. Might be worth a shot especially if you've got some of your original paint kicking about to touch up the worst spots...